1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus having an improved configuration of a transfer roller assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus includes a developing device to develop an electrostatic latent image, which has been formed on a photoconductor based on an image signal, using different colors of toners (e.g., yellow, magenta, cyan and black toners) to form a visible color image, and a transfer device to transfer the color image onto a printing medium for printing of the image.
The transfer device includes an intermediate transfer belt, a transfer roller, and a transfer roller separation/pressure device.
The transfer roller separation/pressure device allows the transfer roller to selectively come into contact with or be separated from the intermediate transfer belt. The transfer roller is spaced apart from the intermediate transfer belt while the toner image on the photoconductor is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt, whereas the transfer roller comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt while the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is transferred to a printing medium.
The transfer roller is installed to selectively come into close contact with a belt drive roller. The belt drive roller is supported by a rear cover and serves to drive the intermediate transfer belt. The transfer roller is separated from the intermediate transfer belt when the rear cover is opened, and comes into close contact with the intermediate transfer belt when the rear cover is closed. If the printing medium is jammed between the transfer roller and the intermediate transfer belt, the rear cover may be opened to enable easy removal of the printing medium.